Improvement in sewing-machines



E.V L. WALES.

Sewing Machine.

No. 42,976. Patented May 31, 1864.

1266865, Inc/sniff,

UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

E. L. WALES, OF EAST RANDOLPH, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,976, dated May 31,1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that I, E. L. fl/MES, of East Randolph, in the county ofNorfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulSeam-Trimmer; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact descrigtion of the construction and operation of thesame, reference being had to the accompanying dra-wings, forming a partof this specitcation, in which- .Figure l is a top view of the trimmerat tached to the table of a sewing-machine;Fig. 2, a side view ot' thesame, and Fig. 3 a side view ofthe knife detached.

Like parts are indicated by the same letters in all the drawings.

The nature of luy invention consists in arranging the edge of atrimming-knife in the throat-plate, or the plateon which the material tobesewed rests, and through which the needle passes, ot' a sewing-machinethe proper dis` tance from the awl or needle, and as nearly opposite thecenter ot' the throat as possible and not interfere with the needle-bar,so that however crooked the seam may be the trimmer will cut an equaldistance from it, performing the operation simultaneously with thesewing, and doing the work much better as well as faster than it ispossible to do it by any other means.

To enable others skilled in .the art to make and use my invention, IwillV now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A represents a portion of the table of any sewing-machine vthe stitchot' which is adapted 'to sewing leather, and to which a clamp, rack andpinion, and a raised throat-plate may be applied.

B is the usual throat-plate, attached to the top of the table by meansof screws.

fis the throat, through vwhich the needleor awl passes up and down.

knife coming` nearly up to the line t/ y, which passes through thecenter of the throat and needle. As the knife wears the slotsfi i allowit to be set forward.

Gr G are the two parts of a clamp between which the boot-leg or otherarticle of leather to he sewed and trimmed is placed and securely heldby screws passing from the upper halfinto thelower. This clamp may bestraightedged, as shown iu Fig. l, or crooked, so as to correspond toany pattern or curve desired. The lower half ofthe clamp is providedwith a rack, as represented hy the dotted lines in Fig. l, which engageswith the pinion H, to which the proper motion inthe direction of thearrow is communicated by the machine in any obvious manner. Thus aboot-leg or other piece of leather, (represented in Fig. l by the dottedlilies 00,) tast in the clamp, will be fed along in the direction ot'the arrow, and as fast as the seam s is sewed it will obviously betrilnmed by the knife O, and as the edge of said knife is opposite thecenter of the throat fthe cut will always be at au equal distance fromthe seam, whether the latter be straight or crooked, whereas it the edgeof the knife were located either hack or froit ofthe center of thethroat a crooked seam could not he -evenly trimmed with it-i. e., thecut at all points would not be eqnidistant. from the stitch.

My device is very simple and inexpensive, and not only does the workmuch better than it can be done by hand, but also milch more rapidlyinshort., as tast as the seam is sewed.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my improvement,what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

So attaching a trimming-knife to the throatplate ot' a sewing-machinethat the edge of the knife may be opposite or nearly opposite the centerot' the throat, substantially as set forth, and for the purposedescribed.

t E. L. WALES.

Witnesses N. AMES, G. W. CHUTE, J r.

